OpenSTA is a distributed software testing architecture designed around CORBA, it was originally developed to be commercial software by CYRANO. The current toolset has the capability of performing scripted HTTP and HTTPS heavy load tests with performance measurements from Win32 platforms. However, the architectural design means it could be capable of much more.

The applications that make up the current OpenSTA toolset were designed to be used by performance testing consultants or other technically proficient individuals. This means testing is performed using the record and replay metaphor common in most other similar commercially available toolsets. Recordings are made in the tester's own browser producing simple scripts that can be edited and controlled with a special high level scripting language. These scripted sessions can then be played back to simulate many users by a high performance load generation engine. Using this methodology a user can generate realistic heavy loads simulating the activity of hundreds to thousands of virtual users.

Results and statistics are collected during test runs by a variety of automatic and user controlled mechanisms. These can include scripted timers, SNMP data, Windows Performance Monitor stats and HTTP results & timings. Much of the data logged can be monitored live during the test runs; once test runs are complete, logs can be viewed, graphed, filtered and exported for use by more sophisticated report generation software.

Completely Free & Open Source

The OpenSTA toolset is Open Source software licensed under the GNU GPL (General Public License), this means it is free and will always remain free. If you wish to build your own customized version of OpenSTA or take part in its development then the complete toolset source code, buildable in Microsoft Visual Studio 6, and all related information is available from OpenSTA.SourceForge.net, the developer home site.

Much more information can be found out about OpenSTA by checking the online documentation or simply downloading and installing the toolset. The FAQ contains lots of other useful background information and helpful tips, this should be the first place you look if you need help with anything not covered in the documentation. There is no need to stop at reading the FAQ either, it is hosted on the OpenSTA Community Portal and, in common with every other resource on this site, it is user editable. This site is a great place for every OpenSTA user to share their experiences with the product and help others learn and use OpenSTA: Remember, the toolset is completely free and any time the developers spend helping users is time they are not enhancing, or fixing problems with, the toolset. By helping other users you are in fact helping OpenSTA and its community become stronger. The premier place for free OpenSTA support and discussions is the OpenSTA Users Mailing List, here the developers and many long time users of this toolset give as much help as their freetime will allow.